KEY POINTS
- JD Vance said disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza remain key US priorities.
- Washington seeks to save the fragile Gaza ceasefire brokered on Oct. 10.
- Israel accused of at least 80 ceasefire violations since the truce began.
- WHO chief warned Gaza’s health crisis could last “for generations.”
- UNRWA says 6,000 trucks of aid are waiting to enter Gaza.
- The US insists Israel remains a “partner, not a client state.”
TEL AVIV/GAZA CITY: The United States is stepping up diplomatic efforts to save a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, even as repeated Israeli violations threaten to derail the deal and worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
US Vice President JD Vance, visiting Israel, acknowledged the challenges of maintaining the truce but expressed confidence that it would endure.
“It’s not easy. I never said it was easy. But what I am is optimistic that the ceasefire is going to hold and that we can actually build a better future for the entire Middle East,” Vance told reporters in Jerusalem.
The ceasefire, brokered by Washington and supported by Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye, came into effect on 10 October following more than two years of devastating Israeli bombardment campaign that killed more than 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza and ruined most of the besieged territory. However, Israel’s continued military actions in Gaza have raised doubts about the durability of the ceasefire.
Vance urges regional cooperation
Vance met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday in Jerusalem on the second day of his visit, part of a wider diplomatic initiative to implement the US-brokered peace plan aimed at ending hostilities, recovering hostages, and beginning Gaza’s reconstruction.
“We have a very tough task ahead of us — to disarm Hamas, rebuild Gaza, make life better for the people of Gaza, and ensure Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel,” he said after talks with Netanyahu.
The US vice president stated that Washington is working closely with regional allies to establish an international security force to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire.
The force would operate from a Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC), where US and allied troops would coordinate with Israeli forces but not deploy inside Gaza.
Netanyahu, when asked about Turkiye’s possible role in the Gaza Task Force, remarked: “I have very strong opinions about that. You want to guess what they are?”
US ambitions for Israel’s role in the region
Standing alongside Netanyahu, Vance pushed back against suggestions that Israel functions as a “vassal state” of the United States.
“We don’t want a client state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership. We want an ally,” he said.
Vance added that President Donald Trump believes Israel can play “a strong leadership role” in the region, allowing the US to take more of a back seat in Middle East security affairs.
Netanyahu defended Israel’s acceptance of the ceasefire deal, which has drawn criticism from some domestic opponents.
“We’ve been able to do two things — put the knife up to Hamas’s throat through military action, and isolate Hamas in the world,” he said.
Violence and humanitarian concerns
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces continue to conduct strikes and ground operations in Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported receiving the bodies of 30 more Palestinian detainees from Israel on Wednesday, many showing signs of “torture, beating, handcuffing and blindfolding.” This brings the total number of bodies returned since the ceasefire to 195.
At least one Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood, medical sources at al-Ahli Hospital said, Al Jazeera reported.
The Gaza Government Media Office has documented more than 80 Israeli ceasefire violations since 10 October.
According to the ministry, Israel’s bombardment campaign since October 2023 has killed at least 68,229 people, a figure the United Nations considers credible.
US credibility ‘on the line’
Muhanad Seloom, professor of critical security studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said the ceasefire’s fragility poses a major diplomatic challenge for Washington.
“The US has sent a top official to Israel to make sure this ceasefire holds because they know Netanyahu might walk away from the agreement,” he told Al Jazeera.
He added that the United States’ credibility is “on the line,” especially with regional stakeholders like Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye pressing for strict implementation of the truce.
Mounting humanitarian crisis
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned that the aid entering Gaza remains “a drop in the ocean of what’s urgently needed.”
The UN agency said it has about 6,000 trucks of essential humanitarian supplies waiting in Jordan and Egypt for clearance. “All crossings need to open. Aid needs to be unrestricted,” UNRWA said in a post on X.
The aid getting into #Gaza is a drop in the ocean of what’s urgently needed.
All crossings need to open. Aid needs to be unrestricted.
UNRWA has around 6,000 trucks worth of vital humanitarian supplies in Jordan and Egypt waiting to go in.
Lift the ban on UNRWA aid. pic.twitter.com/LzE4DjqR6u
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 22, 2025
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described Gaza’s health crisis as “catastrophic and beyond words,” warning that the effects would last for “generations to come.”
“Palestinians in Gaza have experienced famine, overwhelming injuries, the collapse of their healthcare system and disease outbreaks compounded by the destruction of sanitation infrastructure,” he told BBC.
Ghebreyesus urged Israel to “de-link” humanitarian aid from the broader conflict and called for full access for aid agencies.
“Since the US has brokered the peace deal, it has the responsibility to ensure that all sides are respecting it,” he said.
He also appealed for a surge in medical evacuations, noting that 700 people have died while waiting to leave Gaza for treatment.
Fragile peace
The World Health Organization estimates that rebuilding Gaza’s health infrastructure alone will cost around $7 billion — nearly 10 percent of the UN’s total $70 billion reconstruction estimate.
“The ceasefire we have is very fragile and some people have died even after it was broken a couple of times,” Ghebreyesus said.
“Many people cheered in the streets because they were happy there was peace. Imagine, some of those same people are now dead after being told the war is over.”
